Andrew Cawthorne
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/ 30 May 2008

Tiny Eritrea makes big footprint in Africa

Most nations erect grandiose monuments to their historical triumphs. Eritrea put up a pair of sandals. The sculpted black metal shoes in Asmara’s Shida (Sandal) Square, recalling the footwear of Eritrea’s rebels, were a symbol of its remarkable 30-year independence war against its giant neighbour, Ethiopia, which ended with secession in 1991.

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/ 21 May 2008

Eritrea’s mangroves show way to fight hunger

Fisherman Ali Osman grins as he hauls a large, yellow-and-silver emperor fish out of the shallow Red Sea waters off Eritrea. A minute later, his friend pulls out a baby shark, sweating in the heat as he chucks it on the rocks. Other fish flop on the sea’s flat surface as four young fishermen wade through the high tide to take back an impressive haul to their village, Hirgigo.

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/ 27 April 2008

Kenyan army accused of mass torture in Mt Elgon

Kenyan security forces have tortured more than 4 000 people in an indiscriminate offensive against rebels in the remote Mount Elgon area, local rights groups said on Sunday. Activists said the systematic abuses — including crawling on barbed wire — was the worst wave of torture in Kenya under the government of President Mwai Kibaki.

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/ 25 March 2008

Despite Kenya peace deal, ethnic tensions simmer

Nearly three months after the worst massacre of Kenya’s post-election violence, children’s shoes and charred clothes remain in the ashes of a rural church where about 30 people were burned to death. Wreaths of dried-out flowers lie where a mob set fire to the Assemblies of God building with 100 or so terrified villagers cowering inside.

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/ 17 March 2008

World must accept some blame over Kenya

World leaders had to accept some blame for the violence that rocked Kenya after a disputed December election, killing more than 1 000 people, the international Human Rights Watch group said on Monday. It accused police of causing ”hundreds” of deaths by using excessive force during the two-month crisis.